PBA: Rain or Shine slay San Mig Coffee in six, advance to Philippine Cup Finals

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters rung in the New Year on a high note, defeating the San Mig Coffee Mixers in game six of their best-of-seven series, 90-83, Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

The victory put them in the Finals for the second straight conference. In the 2012 Governors' Cup, Rain or Shine actually defeated San Mig Coffee, then known as the B-MEG Llamados, to win their first title. Now, RoS head coach Yeng Guiao gets a chance to win the only title that has eluded him in his illustrious PBA career: a Philippine Cup title.

[Review the play-by-play of this game here]

After struggling in their past few games, Rain or Shine gunner Jeff Chan and Paul Lee came back to life just when the Elasto Painters needed them most. Chan scored nine points each in the second, third, and fourth quarter to total 27 points, while Lee added 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

I was just telling the guys before the game that it's either we finish the San Mig Coffee Mixers off in Game 6, or they finish us in Game 7," said Guiao. "Jeff [Chan] and Paul [Lee] came back to life when we really needed them."

After being down by four points at the half, the Elasto Painters intensified their defense in the second half, holding the Mixers down to 31 points in the last two quarters, just a single point over San Mig's scoring output in the second quarter alone.

"Our game plan was to keep running the whole game, keep the pace fast," said Guiao, whose team also forced 17 turnovers. "We wanted to make them work on defense and I think they got a little tired in the end."

Winning without a big night from James Yap in game four of their semis series against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, the San Mig Coffee Mixers felt that Game 7 was inevitable. But the Elasto Painters had other plans. In the second half, the Elasto Painters again displayed the same effort they showed to win three of the first four games in the series. They out-rebounded and outfought a tired San Mig team which was sorely missing the scoring of their superstar.

San Mig enjoyed a slim lead at the half, 52-48, before Chan led the Elasto Painters on a 9-0 run to grab the lead midway through the third, 64-57.

Rain or Shine had a 71-68 advantage heading into the payoff period, before a Marc Pingris conversion followed by a Yap and-one play tied the game at 73-all at the 8:50 mark. But the Elasto Painters hustled their way for extra possessions for another 7-0 run for an 80-73 spread with 6:13 left in the game.

Key misses from the line definitely did not help San Mig's cause, while Beau Belga grabbed another offensive board, which led to two free throws. Chan would add another two off a San Mig turnover to make it an 11-point game with 4:27 to go, 84-73.

As San Mig head coach Tim Cone burned his final timeout, Pingris hit one in the paint to cut the lead to nine. After Rain or Shine got another offensive rebound, the Coffee Mixers were left with 2:40 to erase the deficit. Joe Devance hit one from the line, as Yap missed a three in San Mig's next offensive sequence.

Simon finally hit down low after two more misses from the free throw line by Pingris, then followed it up with his own bank shot to make it a four-point game at the 1:01 mark. But Rain or Shine responded quickly with Cruz hitting an and-one at the other end.

[Related: The Final Score - Rain or Shine’s Jervy Cruz finally playing like UST’s Jervy Cruz]

A Chan breakaway made it a nine-point game anew with 38 seconds to go, before Simon responded with a trey, 89-83. The Coffee Mixers fouled Beau Belga to stop the clock, which led to a split by the big man. However, without any timeouts left to advance the ball, Barroca ended up losing possession to Chan, who dribbled the time away for the win.

Rain or Shine out-rebounded San Mig 62-48 in total and 24-9 in offensive rebounds alone.

Game six of this best-of-seven series started like game five. Marc Pingris scored three of his team's first five points to get an early lead in the game. Sensing that Yap still wasn't out of his scoring slump, PJ Simon carried the offense for the Mixers, scattering 12 points in the first period, the last of which was a three point basket at the 3:09 mark. An and-one play from Joe Devance gave the Mixers a 22-16 lead, but TY Tang ended the quarter with a three to cut the lead to three.

Jeff Chan heated up in the first part of the second quarter as he scored nine points. Chan sank a three point basket followed by a baseline jumper at the 8:22 mark to bring the Elasto Painters within two, 30-32. Things got chippy midway through the second quarter as Simon shoved Chris Tiu after the Rain or Shine rookie slapped Simon's arm on a dead ball. JR Quiñahan pushed Simon afterwards, prompting the referees to call a technical each on the three players involved.

After Chan carried the brunt of the offense for Rain or Shine, the latter part of the second quarter was all about Paul Lee. The hot-shot sophomore equaled Chan's nine-point output in the second, scoring on back to back threes to give the Elasto Painters a 46-44 lead with 3:23 left in the half. The Mixers quickly regained the lead, though, thanks to two baskets from Rafi Reavis.

James Yap finally scored on his first basket in the last play for the San Mig Coffee Mixers after going scoreless in the first 23 minutes of action. Yap curled off a pick and received the ball for a three after San Mig head coach Tim Cone called a timeout to ask his boys to run their 'pistol' play. The three-point basket Yap sank with 26 seconds of the second quarter gave the Mixers a 52-48 lead going into the half.

Simon led scorers at the half with 18 point on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the free throw line. He was backed up by Mark Barroca, Joe Devance, JC Intal, and Marc Pingris who chipped in six points each.

Rain or Shine, on the other hand, was led by Paul Lee who broke out of his shooting slump to get 13 points at the half. Jeff Chan also bounced back from his past struggles by dropping nine points with Jervy Cruz and Gabe Norwood adding a combined 13 points.

PJ Simon scored 29 points for the Mixers but Marc Pingris and Joe Devance were the only other players in double digits for San Mig.

"We're glad that their guys don't explode all at the same time," said Guiao after the game. "And we're lucky that James Yap was still struggling."

Yap shot 1-of-7 from three, 1-of-8 from two, and 1-of-5 from the free throw line.

"I'm really glad is over, at least for this series," said Guiao who now awaits for the winner of the series between the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters and the Alaska Aces.

"Whichever team will win that game will be deserving," said Guiao. "I just hope that it becomes a long series to give us more days to rest." - Carlo Pamintuan / Renee Fopalan, GMA News